· February, 2008

Stories about Morocco from February, 2008

Morocco: Blogger Quits

A popular and well respected university professor and blogger, Pr. Mohamed Drissi Bakhakhat, decided to stop blogging out of fear for his safety after what happened to Fuad Mourtada, writes...

26 February 2008

Morocco: Health Care

Abdelilah Boukili of Regular Comments Based on Issues Raised by BBC World Haveyoursay questions the practice of Western countries recruiting health care professionals from developing countries.

23 February 2008

Morocco: Hijab as a Choice

Much has been said about "the veil," or hijab. Perhaps too much - mention it, and suddenly everyone - Muslim or not - is an expert. In Morocco, hijab is certainly a choice. Young and old alike don the headscarf, and in big cities, seeing it is as common as not seeing it. Although in rural areas it is more prevalent, all women have (legal) freedom of choice whether or not to wear it.

22 February 2008

Morocco: Facebook's fake prince could face five years in prison

Fouad Mourtada, a 26-year old IT engineer has been held under arrest in Casablanca since February 5th for "villainous practices linked to the alleged theft of the identity" of King Mohammed VI's younger brother, Prince Moulay Rachid, on the popular social networking website Facebook. Fouad appeared in court on Friday February 15th. The trial has been postponed until February 22.

19 February 2008

Morocco: Bloggers Rally Behind Fouad Mourtada

In Morocco, francophone bloggers rally behind Fouad Mourtada, jailed for posting a Facebook profile that spoofed a member of the Moroccan royal family. Mourtada's arrest reveals the tensions between modern Morocco and Morocco of the Middle Ages, they write, while still holding out hope for an acquittal.

19 February 2008

From Morocco, With Love

On this, St. Valentine's Day, the day for lovers, poems, flowers and romance, Moroccan bloggers are sharing their hearts. Few holidays have the ability to inspire both love and blog posts, but today's is certainly one of them.

15 February 2008

Egypt: On Winning the African cup of Nation, Ghana 2008

Ask any Egyptian, he’d tell you that last Sunday night, February the 10th, wasn’t like any night.. a night like “thousand nights”.. Egypt won the African Cup of Nations in Ghana 2008 after a fierce match with Cameron 1-0. A marvelous score in a beautiful ditto between Abu Tarika and Zeidan. Egypt won.. Celebrations was almost every where on each and every street in Egypt, as well as in many other Arab countries.

13 February 2008

Moroccan bloggers call for education reform

When the World Bank recently announced that Middle Eastern and North African nations need to improve their education systems in order to reach their development goals and be competitive in a globalized market, it sent ripples through Morocco's Francophone blogosphere, prompting calls to improve the nation's ailing education system.

11 February 2008

Morocco: The Whole “Kitten” Caboodle

Cats are abundant in Morocco. Overabundant, even. One of my favorite things about living there was photographing the street cats - of which there would often be groups of up to 20. Judging by the spate of posts from the Moroccan blogoma (and even some recent travelers to Morocco) about cats, I'm not the only one who loves felines - and lately, even professional artists and photographers have found them to be a popular subject, reports Jillian York.

6 February 2008